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Interview: The President of Yale, Richard C. Levin
thumbOn 30.06.2008 the President of Yale, Richard C. Levin, visited our school to speak to a public audience as part of the “Great Ideas” series of the Fullbright Foundation in Greece. The goal of this series is to bring noted American experts to Greece. President Levin’s talk was supported by Anatolia College and its university division, the American College of Thessaloniki under the auspices of The Ministry of Education and Religious Affairs. Before giving his talk he went to President Jackson’s house for a press conference. I had the opportunity to ask President Levin a couple of questions for the newspaper “Science and Technology”. At 6.15 Ms. Samara and I were at President Jackson’s house. There were other journalistspresent, as well, and we were all waiting for Presidents Levin to arrive. Finally, he was there. Everybody took their seats and the interview started. I was really nervous when I started asking him my first question, but he was polite and nice with everyone in the room. At the end of the interview, I gave him a copy of “Science and Technology 2007”, we shook his hand and had some pictures taken. We also learned some really interesting things about Yale University. We hope he will visit our country and school again in the future. thumb|leftRichard C. Levin has been Yale’s President since 1993. He is the longest serving Ivy League president and he is recognized as one of the leaders of American higher education. He received his B.A. from Stanford University in 1968 and studied politics and philosophy at Oxford University, where he earned a B.Litt. degree. In 1974 President Levin received his Ph.D. from Yale and joined the Yale faculty. Before becoming president, he chaired the economics department and served as dean of Yale Graduate School of Arts and Sciences. Yale was chosen to sponsor many educational programs in China, during President Levin’s presidency. He maintains his involvement with students through regular meetings, meals in student dining halls, and regular attendance at sporting events. He and his wife, Jane, are longtime New Haven residents. They have four children and one grandchild. President Levin holds many honorary degrees awarded by Universities such as Peking, Harvard, Princeton, and Oxford ones. He is, also, a Fellow of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences. Here is what President Levin had to say to S&T: :President Levin, how can we inspire young students not only to want to gain knowledge for a career but to enjoy learning, to acquire an inquisitive spirit in other words to aim for connative learning, that is for them to want to become something like "mini Einsteins"? Pr.L.:'I think the kind of curiosity-driven embrace of connections among different fields is very important and I trust that President Jackson and the faculty of this school are trying to cultivate those ideas in the students here. That's what makes an excellent preparatory school that will stimulate students throughout their school years. Fortunately, we get a lot of students at Yale who have that capacity well implanted when they get to Yale. :'President Levin in your opinion which are the essential qualifications, that is the fundamental knowledge and skills, that a secondary school such as Anatolia should equip its students with, so that they are capable of dealing with the requirements of a school like Yale? Pr.L.: What students should know to be able to qualify for admission to schools like Yale is to be able to think clearly and express themselves well in writing and orally, so that they can benefit the most from an advanced educational setting. What particular course of study you follow is not so important as that the students take their work very seriously. We do expect a certain level of mathematical competence and a basic familiarity with science that can be achieved through two to three years of secondary-school level science. Probably the first and foremost qualification is to be able to speak and write well in English. But we're also looking for students who have more than just the ability to succeed in a classroom. We're interested in students who show some passion for the field they're interested in, a curiosity that really drives them to do exceptional work, a passion for the area of social service or for community commitement or leadership or a talent in an area of the arts, that is we're looking for students who have a lot of capacity to develop and play a leadership role in society. We're in the fortunate position that we have over 20,000 applicants to Yale College every year and we get to select among many truly extraordinary people. :Which field of Science and Technology do you believe that students should invest in today? Do you think they should pursue studies in the field of Physics, Economy, Computer Science or in other fields? thumbPr.L.:'Actually, I think this is a question that students should reserve until they get to College. I think it's often too early in secondary school for students to decide which of the fields of Science & Technology or possibly Social Science and the Humanities that they should specialize in. In the U.S., unlike most of Europe, there's no specialization until the third year of College. Students pursue courses in a variety of fields the first two years and are able to find what most interests and stimulates them. I'm curious though that your list leaves off the life sciences, like Biology and Chemistry, which in many ways, I think, are the fields that are going to be most important in the next quarter century, as we solve the Mystery of the Genome, learn exciting new ways to characterize genetic differences and new ways to think about treating diseases, that's where actually the most exciting work is going on at Yale at the moment. ::I thanked President Levin for giving me the honor to interview him. 'Πηγές: :Biography of President Levin :http://athens.usembassy.gov :http://www.yale.edu Papazachariou Zacharias Class of 2012 Κατηγορία:Articles 2007-2008